Boiled Blisters Instead of Blood

by Elroy Willis -- March 26, 2005

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (EAP)
-- A Filipino man found himself in a sticky situation yesterday after
attaching himself to a cross with superglue instead of with the metal
nails he normally uses each year.

It is well documented that dozens of men in the Philippines voluntarily
get nailed to crosses each Easter, and some of their wives have apparently
begun to speak out against the barbaric practice.

32-year-old Jose Franposas says that his wife had complained
about having to pull out the nails and clean his bloody wounds
each year, and told him that if he kept it up, she'd divorce
him or leave him to die on the cross this year.

"My husband has big scars on his hands and feet from the last
12 years of getting nailed to the cross, and I told him that they
look ugly to me and even make me sick, so this year he decided to
try something different," said Mary Franposas, 27-year-old wife
of Jose.

"I was trying to help out my wife and make a compromise so she
wouldn't have to deal with so much blood. That's why I decided to
use superglue. I thought it would be a lot safer and cleaner, and
that the glue would dissolve with warm water once I was ready to
be taken down from the cross," Jose said.

Things took a turn for the worse when Jose told his wife to boil some
water on the stove and pour it over his hands and feet to dissolve the
superglue. This lead to the flesh on Jose's hands and feet getting
blisters from the scalding hot water.

"I'm still tending to the wounds on my husband's hands and feet, just
like last year and the year before, only this year it's blisters
instead of blood," she said.

"My left hand is free now, so at least I can scratch my nose," Jose said.